Cardiovascular Diseases and Sensorineural Hearing Loss—A Systematic Review of the Literature

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationship of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). DATABASES REVIEWED: Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane. METHODS: A systematic review was performed. Studies were identified using Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane from 1946 to 2023. Per Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, abstracts were screened for primary review. Full texts were reviewed for secondary review. RESULTS: There were 3,440 unique abstracts screened. After primary review of abstracts and secondary full text review, 68 articles were included. The relationship between SNHL and the following CVDs, risk factors, and interventions were ascertained: coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, coronary artery disease (CAD), carotid stenosis (CS), myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), other arteriosclerosis, cerebral small vascular disease, cerebrovascular accident (CVA), transient ischemic attack (TIA), peripheral vascular disease (PVD), hyperlipidemia (HLD), hypertension (HTN), and diabetes mellitus (DM). CABG and CAD were consistently associated with SNHL. DM was associated with SNHL, but HTN and HLD were not consistently associated. CONCLUSIONS: There is a complex relationship between CVDs and SNHL. CABG and CAD were consistently associated with SNHL. DM was associated with SNHL, but other CVD risk factors (HTN and HLD) did not appear to consistently correlate with SNHL, raising consideration that SNHL is a later finding in those with CVD.